My family (5 of us, and our 2 small dogs) and and I stayed for 4 nights at the Tortuga and there were some things to like and some things not to like. We stayed in the 2/1 (Palm Court North - Room 126).
The good: Location, right across the street from the Gulf. If you have children, make sure to be careful of this--there is a pretty decent amount of traffic on Gulf Drive. The private beach is beautiful, no doubt about it.
The not so good: The "main pool" was small (maximum capacity 17) and does not get cleaned every night, as in large resorts. We only used it the first day, and stopped when we noticed that the pool was crowded with small children, and there is no bathroom nearby... It might be a good idea to take a pool kit with you. The grounds were quite lovely, with trees and foliage. You could also walk on the fishing pier (and fish if you brought/bought your own poles and bait). I thought this was neat. We checked in and it was told to us that the resort was a wireless hotspot. You may be able to get online if you stand outside your room. Also your cell phones wont work too well until you are away from the resort. The room had a full-size refrigerator, microwave, oven, dishes and utensils. It also had a dvd/vcr player. The walls are paper thin, and we could hear the conversations of the guests upstairs. We checked in and it was told to us that the resort was a wireless hotspot. You may be able to get online if you stand outside your room. Also your cell phones wont work too well until you are away from the resort.
The bad (or strange): The office hours of the front desk. This could be construed as good or bad. They are there from 9 am-6 pm. I guess it's because they are a privately owned resort. From 10 pm-7 am is "quiet time" (though our neighbors seemed to be unaware of this). This might not be a bad thing, as not everyone wants to party into the night (though our neighbors did). However, the resort said to call 911 (emergency fire/rescue and police) if someone is loud during those times. I would prefer to call the front desk if someone is loud and save 911 for life threatening emergencies. The vertical blinds didn't offer a lot of light blockage or privacy either. Our "pet friendly" unit offered carpeted bedrooms, but we found pet spot stains in both rooms... which we didn't like so much!
The Ugly: The front desk staff! We had problems/issues from the beginning. This should have tipped us off, but we honestly like to give people the benefit of the doubt. We arrived for check-in at around Noon on a Saturday. Yes, check in time is 4:00 p.m., but that's just a standard and we've always been able to check in earlier at other resorts (all other resorts, actually). It was pouring rain on Saturday, and we packed our family of 5 (and don't forget our two dogs) into our small car. It was hot, humid and pouring rain. We didn't get our room until 5:30 p.m. even though it was pouring rain and we had our 3 kids and 2 dogs (yes, the property is pet friendly). For this inconvenience (a wasted day), they waved the pet fee ($50) and we were given a 10% discount from the remainder of the bill. That didn't make up for the lack of good service... we had our budget and were perfectly happy paying all of the above, but at least we didn't have to pay for the lost day.
Two days after checking-in, I go online to review my checking account, and notice that they've deducted the remainder of the cost of the hotel stay ($792) from my checking account (through my DEBIT CARD, which is how I paid for my deposit, and which I also CLEARLY stated that I did not want my stay charged to (clearly, because they took an imprint of the actual credit card I did want the room charged to). So now they've placed a temporary hold on my credit card AND charged my debit card. This because the employees at the front desk were not communicating with one another... The first employee (Tim) placed a hold of $950 and the second employee (Patricia) tried to charge an additional $792, and for security purposes the $792 was declined (as the temporary hold placed by employee #1 - Tim, was still there). So what does Patricia do? Well, as she proudly explained it, "I didn't want to upset you anymore after the debacle at check-in, so I charged your other card." WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! I said, "Well, it's a good thing you didn't make me overdrawn, because that's my checking account... and talk about being upset if that had happened." No apologies. Nothing! She turned around and continued working on her computer. AMAZING... and CLUELESS!!!!
Now for check out... I go check out and I tell the same woman at the desk (Patricia) to please explain the bill to me, which showed a total of $1,004. So she starts fanning herself with a manila folder and in a very flustered tone says to me, "Oh, I know you... I don't know what Tim (the other clerk) did and he's off today." First, what kind of a comment is "Oh, I know you" to a customer? You know me because you've been messing up since I arrived here. Secondly, how is it acceptable that you don't know what your co-worker did and so you can't explain a simple bill to me? FIGURE IT OUT! I said, "Get a manager, get somebody, get anybody... but I'm not leaving here until you explain how you have total of $1,004 when my total should be $792." I just wanted a simple explanation. Her response to my request? "Well, you're going to have to call accounting." BY NOW, I WAS SO RED MY FACE HURT!! I said, "The only place I'm calling is your corporate office... You call accounting, and you figure it out, and you tell me what the actual bill is, or I'm not leaving." She told me I had to calm down. "I'll be calm as soon as you get me an answer. This has been a fiasco from check-in." This went on for about 10 minutes, until she called accounting and they explained the bill to her, and she then explained it to me. The $1,004 reflected the TOTAL cost of the stay... now note, this could have all been avoided, if she'd only been a little more customer focused, and informed... instead of telling me that I had to calm down. So, while the property is nice enough (the furnishings and decor), we will opt out and stay elsewhere next year. Somewhere that offers more cleanliness, and better customer service. We know they're out there because we've stayed there in years past.